


All I Want for Christmas is You

by Mai_Blade



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Childhood Friends, Dysfunctional Family, F/M, Falling In Love, Fluff and Angst, Friendship, One Shot, Reader-Insert, Songfic, Teen Angst, Teenage Drama, without lyrics
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-20
Updated: 2018-12-20
Packaged: 2019-09-23 16:23:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,795
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17083712
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mai_Blade/pseuds/Mai_Blade
Summary: Yugi has been your friend forever and moving away hasn't changed that. You don't see him as a guy, and you're more concerned about the escalating fights between your parents, but no one remains oblivious forever.Sometimes, falling in love just happens in a snap.





	All I Want for Christmas is You

**The truth is, everyone is going to hurt you. You just got to find the ones worth suffering for.**

**~Bob Marley**

* * *

It was cold and snowing in the city of Domino as Yugi stopped in front of his grandfather's store after another day at school. He stared up at the falling snow, knowing that Christmas would be here soon. It was a time for romantic dates, but he’d never been popular or ever had a girlfriend. Despite that depressing thought, Yugi inhaled deeply, enjoying the weather that wasn't too cold. He turned his head when he heard someone call his name. 

"Yugi-kun!" you called, running up to him. He stared up, you being taller than him, and smiled. You smiled back at him, panting for breath. The cold made your cheeks red. 

He said your name in surprise. "I didn't know you were back in town."

You shrugged. "Yeah, I know, I would've called you but I didn't get the chance." You winked at him and clasped your mitten-clad hands behind your back. "So instead I just came over to play for a while." 

Yugi grinned. "That's great! I have a new game to play with you." Yugi entered the Kame Game shop and you followed. He said, "It’s called Duel Monsters."

You brightened. "Really? I heard about that game. It's a popular card game, right?" 

"Right," Yugi said, smiling. He led the way to his room. "I'm not too bad it myself. I'll lend you some cards so you can play too." 

Yugi shrugged off his coat, as did you. He noticed that despite the weather and your lack of a school uniform you had still worn a skirt.

You grinned, leafing through his card collection in his bedroom. You sat on the floor, not feeling it was inappropriate to spend unsupervised time in a guy's room. You just didn't think anything was wrong with spending time with a friend, male or not. 

"All right!" You said, slapping down a deck in front of Yugi. "This is my deck!" 

Yugi smiled at you. You could be so energetic. He missed having you around all the time ever since you moved away.

You sat crossed-legged on the floor, not noticing that your skirt was riding rather high up. Yugi, being a healthy young male, noticed and grew flustered. He might be your friend but he was also a guy. His face grew red and his ability to concentrate flew out the window. You on the other hand, noticed nothing about Yugi's behavior. It just didn't cross you that Yugi might think of you like that.

You laughed evilly, destroying another one of Yugi's monsters. Glancing up you saw his red face and immediately assumed he was embarrassed about losing. Grinning, you decided to be merciful and let him win. 

As the duel went on you shifted position and sat formal style with your feet under you. You hardly noticed when Yugi's game picked up and destroyed your own. 

"Damn!" You laughed when Yugi destroyed your last monster, bringing your life points down to nothing, "You got me." 

Yugi laughed nervously, tugging at the collar of his shirt. He gulped and avoided your gaze. In fact, he completely ignored your as you puttered around his bedroom, looking at everything and touching almost everything. It was when you plopped down on his bed that Yugi yelped and ran out the room, saying something about getting a drink. 

You called after him. "Get me one too!" Sitting up in his bed, you looked through the rough deck you had dueled with. This was kind of fun, this game. Or at least, playing it with Yugi was fun. You doubted you would enjoy it if it was a stranger who beat you.

Suddenly you sighed and set down the cards. Playing any game with Yugi was fun. It was always fun. 

You lay down on his bed and buried your face in his pillow, idly noting that it smelled like him. You wished you still lived nearby instead of all the way in the next town. You had moved there a year ago when your father got a new job so now you weren’t going to the same school as your old friend. 

You really missed seeing Yugi every day.

Hearing footsteps, you sat up and smoothed your skirt. Yugi came back into the room, carrying a couple of cups. 

"I called Anzu and asked if she wanted to come over." 

You made a face because you didn't like Anzu that much. She was nice and all, but she made you jealous because Yugi seemed to like her more than he liked you. 

You brightened, though, when he added, "But she couldn't come. She's working."

You asked out of politeness. "Working? What's she need the money for?"

"She's saving up her money so she can go to America when she graduates," Yugi answered, somewhat sad. He tried smiling. "She's going to study dance in New York."

Your eyes widened a bit before they returned to their original state. That… was not really surprising. You knew Anzu liked dancing, but you didn't actually think she'd go to America for it. You shrugged. "Whatever floats her boat."

"I guess," Yugi said, stirring his drink. He had brought hot cocoa for you both. He took a sip and smiled at you. "So, how long are you in Domino?"

You almost choked on your drink. Oh no, you'd forgotten about that. Sighing, you averted your gaze. 

Yugi stared at you, setting his drink down. "You ran away again, huh?"

You nodded glumly. Your parents fought a lot and they bought you lots of things to make up for it, but all you wanted was for them to stop fighting. What were clothes, CDs, and other junk when your parents were tearing each other to pieces? 

Yugi sighed softly. "You can't run forever." He was sitting at his desk, and you were still sitting on his bed. "You have to do something if you want things to get better."

When your parents fought too much you often ran away without telling them. You'd run to your friends' homes and stay there until your parents found you and brought you back home with false promises of it getting better. This was the fourth time in your life that you had run to Yugi's. 

You sniffled, setting aside your partially empty cup. "But I do try, Yugi-kun, I do." You gently rubbed your eyes with your sleeve. "I try talking to them but they don't get it. They just don't get it. All they care about is there image and their jobs and not about how I feel." 

You started crying and Yugi stared at you sadly. 

Tears kept falling as you slid to the floor and crawled slowly over to Yugi to cry on his lap. Yugi patted your hair, wishing he could do more to make you feel better. This position wasn't new to him, though since the onset of puberty it had become more awkward for him since you didn’t seem to register him as a guy. You crying on his lap was a common event, especially back in the days when you had lived nearby. 

Slowly, you stopped crying and just sat there, your head in Yugi's lap as he stroked your hair. It felt as though you had no more tears left, not after months of crying with your music turned up as your parents fought in another part of the house, voices raised and filled with anger. 

Yugi was beginning to wonder if you had fallen asleep when you stirred slightly. 

"I'd go mad without you, Yugi-kun," you whispered, your head turned slightly on his lap as you stared at the far wall. "Absolutely mad…" 

You sighed and closed your eyes. 

A few moments later, Yugi realized you had fallen asleep on him. He sighed and smiled slightly, brushing the hair away from your face. He wished he could change the world so it didn't make you cry anymore. For now, though, all he could do was break out the spare futon and get you to bed. 

Maybe tomorrow would be a better day for you.

* * *

Later that evening he told his grandpa about your visit. Yugi froze when his grandpa asked if your parents knew where you were. Grandpa Muto sighed as Yugi's pause all the confirmation he needed to know that you had run away from home again.

"I trust you to do the right thing, Yugi," his grandfather said as he shuffled off to bed for the night. He glanced back. "I know you want to protect your friend, but when you hide her away you're harming her more than helping her."

Yugi stared after his grandfather as he slipped down the hall and out of sight. 

He ran a hand through his hair and stood at the door of his own room, staring down at your sleeping form. He didn’t like it, but he knew what he had to do.

* * *

You woke up the next morning, stretched and briefly wondered where you were. Glancing around the unfamiliar room, it became familiar and you remembered that you were in Yugi's bedroom.

Then it all came back to you. After leaving the house in a storm yesterday, you had jumped on the first train to Domino and Yugi had been the friend you went to for sanctuary.

Your parents had been having their worst fight in months, and you hadn't been able to take the yelling anymore. You had screamed at them, though your words had been a jumbled mess up to the point where you suddenly turned and ran out of the house. You scowled into the pillow and silently vowed that you would never let your own marriage get to such a point. 

Shoving the dark thoughts away, you yawned and sat up, wondering where Yugi had gone. Before the thought could finish, Yugi came into the room carrying a tray with breakfast on it. He smiled at you, looking guilty for some reason. 

"I brought you some breakfast," he said, setting the tray down on your lap. He smiled at you nervously. "Um, I was just wondering, do you want to come to school with me today?"

You grinned, biting off a piece of toast. You nodded and Yugi's smile widened slightly, though it still looked shaky. 

"Great," he said, standing up. "You'd better hurry though. I'm leaving soon."

You nodded again and gulped down a few more bites of breakfast before you stood up. Noticing your reflection in the mirror, you frowned and grabbed Yugi's brush to straightened out the mess on your head. Having slept in your clothes, you smoothed down the wrinkles as Yugi pulled on his coat. Grabbing your own coat, you followed him as he went down the stairs, pulling on your own coat as you went.

"Bye, Grandpa Muto," you called.

“Bye, Grandpa,” Yugi chimed.

You trudged through the snow with Yugi to the bus stop, chattering on as though nothing had happened last night. You paused when you noticed Yugi's lack of reaction to anything you said. 

"Yugi-kun?" He jumped and stared up at you in surprise. You asked, "Is something wrong?"

Yugi broke his gaze and stared at the ground. He sighed. "I'm sorry. I had to do it."

You frowned. "Do what?" 

You heard a car pull up near the curb not too far away.

Yugi stared up at you sadly, silently asking for your forgiveness as he answered.

"I had to call your parents."

Your eyes widened as you stared down at your friend. Yugi had never called your parents on you before. It was always his grandfather who did that. Nothing could stop the tears that filled your eyes as you heard your parents call your name angrily. You stared at Yugi in betrayal who felt all the worse for making you cry. Words left your mouth, ones filled with anger and hurt.

" _I hate you._ " 

Turning on your heel, you ran away, ignoring the angry and desperate calls of your name.

* * *

Wandering around Domino, you sulked all day. You couldn't believe Yugi did that. You just couldn't believe Yugi turned you in to your parents, and yet, it had happened.

Finally, sometime late in the afternoon you went into a fast food place, hungry and tired. You sat in a corner booth, all alone, and then you heard a familiar voice. 

"May I take your order?"

You lifted your head and found yourself staring at Anzu. She was smiling politely at you. You sighed. That was another thing that bugged you. While you were jealous and didn't like Anzu, you couldn't hate her either. She was just _too nice_. 

"Hey, Mazaki-chan."

She sat down across from you. "You know, Yugi was pretty upset over you all day today in school. He left right during lunch hour to go look for you and didn’t come back." 

You frowned, kicking the table leg. "He turned me in!"

Anzu quietly pointed out, "He was only trying to help."

You snorted. "He helped a lot before by not calling my parents." 

She sighed. "He said he had to. He wanted to help you, not harm you."

You glared at her. "What would you know?"

"I know plenty," Anzu said slowly. She rested her arms on the table, staring at you. "I know that he said he knew that if he hid you, he wasn't helping you—he was hurting you." 

You stared at you, scowling. How could turning you in to your parents count as helping you? Turning your head away, you glared at the wall. "I'll have a medium soft drink and a burger, no pickles."

Anzu was quiet for a moment before she stood up. "Coming up." 

Before she left to get your order she glanced back. "He only did it because he cares about you."

You continued glaring at the wall, arms folded. You didn't want to give any forgiveness to Yugi, not after he betrayed, but you couldn't help thinking about Anzu's argument for Yugi. When you ran away, you weren't making things better. You were just making a bad situation more tense because then your parents had to worry about you. When Yugi hid you, he wasn't helping anyone either, not when he was enabling you and helping you make your parents stressed. 

Only by forcing you to face the problem could he help you, even if it wasn't what you wanted. Sighing, you bowed your head. Even if that was true, the only people who could fix this situation were your parents, and they only cared for their public image, not a healthy home and happy daughter. People were selfish, and you were no exception. Your home life didn’t have a magical cure and you would just have to live with it.

"Can I sit here?"

The timid voice was familiar and you snapped your head up to see Yugi. He stood beside the table, head slightly bowed as though prepared for a blow. He was smiling nervously and you felt a pang of guilt. He cared about you and in return you bit his head off. He was a good friend and deserved better from you.

Nodding reluctantly at him, he tentatively slid into the seat across from you. 

Sitting there across from each other, neither of you were sure of what to do or say.

A fight happened within yourself, one side unwilling to forgive and the other side who just wanted to keep your friend. Eventually, one side won, and you opened your mouth. 

"I'm sorry."

Yugi stared at you in surprise. He knew you could be selfish and unforgiving as he'd seen the latter often enough for himself when you were growing up together. He also knew that for you to say you were sorry was a rare thing, a word never wasted or hollow. He grinned, a bit uncertainly. "For what?"

"For being… mean to you," you said slowly. 

It was difficult to say things like that. You knew you were a spoiled and selfish girl, and that you were cruel sometimes. But, this boy sitting across from you hadn't done anything to deserve that. Yes, he called your parents, but he only did it because he cared about you. For all your parents fought, your physical well-being was always important to them, and they never beat you, and they worried whenever you ran away. Letting them know where you were, that was the responsible thing for him to do. 

"I… know now that you only called my parents because you care about me. Going back to them is what’s best for me. So… I’m sorry for saying I hate you. I don’t.”

Yugi smiled back you, relived that you weren't angry with him anymore. He had been afraid that your negative traits of hating and of not forgiving those who you felt wronged you would drive you away from him. 

His smile quickly faded though. He frowned and stared at the table. "I'm not sure I did the right thing though. I know it makes you cry when your parents fight…”

You reached over to take Yugi's hand. You tried smiling at him as he met your gaze. "Even if they don't get better, Yugi-kun, I won't impulsively run away anymore. And I won't try to not let it make me cry so much, too. It'll be hard, I know, but I don't… want you to worry so much about me. I know you do. I see it in your eyes and read it between the lines in your letters and hear in your words." 

You sighed and sat back. "I can’t make them get along, and I can’t save their marriage for them if it comes to divorce… but I can stop putting myself in danger. I’ll stop running away when I’m fueled by emotion. I… I’ll keep myself safe.”

Yugi brightened and smiled, reaching over with his other hand to cover your hand that held his. He didn’t have any words, but his hands were warm, and you felt better.

* * *

Later that evening, after you and Yugi left the fast food place to head back to the Kame Game Shop, you daringly took his hand and held it. You gazed up at the falling snow before turning to stare at him. 

You smiled at him. "I never noticed before, Yugi-kun, how much you mean to me." 

Yugi blushed. "R-really?"

"Really," you said, laughing. "You're like, my best friend in the whole world!"

Yugi smiled, feeling almost let down. Of course you didn't think of him that way. How could you think otherwise when you lived so far away now and had new friends and new guys you might want to date?

"So," you said, jumping forward and spinning around to face him, walking backwards. "Are you getting me a Christmas present?”

Yugi laughed. Christmas was more of a holiday for couples, but you had long since gotten into the habit of using it to get a present out of him. This year he had gotten you a thin photo album of pictures from your childhood. "Oh, you'll have to wait until it gets to your place in the mail to find out."

You frowned but then smiled. "Well then, what do you want for Christmas?" You took your place beside him as you both walked on. "I swear you are the hardest person to buy a gift for. All boys are… With a girl I could just buy a piece of jewelry or a bath set and be done with it, but guys? Who knows what they like, I mean come on.”

You continued ranting as you walked, unaware of his thoughts.

There were lots of things he'd want for Christmas, but there was only one thing he truly wanted. Two things actually, but Anzu didn't think of him that way. He smiled sadly, staring at nothing. The two people he wanted for Christmas didn't think of him that way. He was just a friend.

You stared at Yugi, trailing off. He didn't notice and just kept staring at the distance with a forlorn look on his face. It looked like he was thinking wistfully of something.

You smiled at him. Up until today you had thought of Yugi as only your friend. Today he had proven himself worthy of that title, and you hoped you had proven worthy of it as well. Maybe your parents would get better, maybe they wouldn't, but you knew you could always count on Yugi. If only he hadn't liked Anzu maybe you could have liked him more.

( _why did he like Anzu more? Because she had bigger breasts?_ ) 

Suddenly and inexplicably angry, you shoved him into a snowdrift. 

Why did he have to like Anzu?! 

You glared down at him but started laughing as he floundered around in the snow, asking why you had done that. “I’ve got snow down my back now!”

"I'm sorry, Yugi," you giggled after a while, still grinning. You held out a hand and leaned close. "Here, let me help you up."

Yugi took your hand and hauled himself up. He lifted his head and found himself face to face with you, making his face turned crimson as he began to pull away. 

You blinked, wondering why he was blushing, when suddenly you lost your footing and fell forward, landing on top of Yugi. The world seemed to stop in that moment as your lips pressed to the corner of his mouth. 

A second later, you mentally cursed fate and quickly scrambled from on top of him, blushing bright red from embarrassment. You sat there in the snow near Yugi who still lay in it. You were both blushing, both embarrassed by what just happened.

"I-I'm sorry, Yugi-kun," you stuttered as he sat up. "I-I-" 

Your eyes widened in surprise as Yugi leaned towards you and gently met his lips with yours. His hands came up and cradled your face closer to his, deepening the first real kiss either of you had shared with anyone. 

The snow continued to quietly fall, a dance of briefly gleaming stars in the street lights.

You could panic and shove him away, or stand and flee, but neither of those was the strongest impulse. 

Instead, you closed your eyes and gladly fell in love with Yugi Muto.

* * *

**Love does not appear with any warning signs. You fall into it as if pushed from a high diving board. No time to think about what’s happening. It’s inevitable. An event you can’t control. A crazy, heart-stopping, roller-coaster ride that just has to take its course.**

**~Jackie Collins**

**Author's Note:**

> An old songfic I've edited to post here. Originally a Christmas fic, but it's not even Christmas day in the story. :/
> 
> If you're wondering about when the story takes place, I don't really have a specific period for it, but if you wanted to, I guess you could say this happens after the manga ends and Yami isn't around anymore.
> 
> Anyway, Merry Christmas!


End file.
